Almighty God, in choosing the virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son,

you made known your gracious regard for the poor and the lowly and the despised.

Grant us grace to receive your Word in humility, and so made one with your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 33

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Psalm 113

Romans 12:9-16b

Luke 1:39-57

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Depending on the date of Easter, and therefore of Pentecost, the Feast of the Visitation can fall in either the season of Easter or the Season after Pentecost.

The history of the Feast of the Visitation has been a varied one. The feast, absent in Eastern Orthodoxy, began in 1263, when St. Bonaventure introduced it to the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans), which he led. Originally the date was July 2, after the octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24). Pope Urban VI approved the feast in 1389, the Council of Basel authorized it in 1441, propers debuted in the Sarum breviary of 1494, and Pope Pius V added the feast to the general calendar in 1561. In 1969, during the pontificate of Paul VI, Holy Mother Church moved the Feast of the Visitation to May 31, in lieu of the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which Pope Pius XII had instituted in 1954. The Episcopal Church added the Feast of the Visitation to its calendar in The Book of Common Prayer (1979). The feast had long been July 2 in The Church of England and much of Lutheranism prior to 1969. Subsequent liturgical revision led to the transfer of the feast to May 31 in those traditions.

The corresponding Eastern Orthodox feast on July 2 commemorates the placing of the Holy Robe of the Mother of God in the church at Blachernae, a suburb of Constantinople.

The theme of humility is prominent in the assigned readings and in the Lutheran collect I have quoted. A definition of that word might therefore prove helpful. The unabridged Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language (1951), a tome, defines humility as

Freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one’s own worth; also, self-abasement, penitence for sin.

Humility refers to lowliness and, in the Latin root, of being close to the ground. God raising up the lowly is a Lukan theme, as is God overthrowing the arrogant. After all, the woes (Luke 6:24-26) follow the Beatitudes (6:20-25), where Jesus says,

Blessed are you who are poor,

not

Blessed are you who are poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3).

The first will be last and the last will be first, after all.

Wherever you are, O reader, you probably live in a society that celebrates the boastful, the arrogant. The assigned readings for this day contradict that exultation of the proud, however. They are consistent with the ethic of Jeremiah 9:22-23:

Yahweh says this,

“Let the sage not boast of wisdom,

nor the valiant of valour,

nor the wealthy of riches!

But let anyone who wants to boast, boast of this:

of understanding and knowing me.

For I am Yahweh, who acts with faithful love,

justice, and uprightness on earth;

yes, these are what please me,”

Yahweh declares.

—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

St. Paul the Apostle channeled that ethic in 1 Corinthians 1:31 and 2 Corinthians 10:17, among other passages.

That which he understood well and internalized, not without some struggle, remains relevant and timeless.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 1, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN-WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN

Do not be arrogant, the readings for these three days tell us. Trust in God instead, we read. Daniel 5 tells us of Belshazzar, viceroy under this father, King Nabonidus (reigned 556-539 B.C.E.) of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. God, the story tells us, found Belshazzar wanting. Furthermore, we read, God delivered the empire to the Persians and the Medes, and the Babylonian Exile ended shortly thereafter.

Cease your proud boasting,

let no word of arrogance pass your lips,

for the LORD is a God who knows;

he governs what mortals do.

Strong men stand in mute dismay,

but those who faltered put on new strength.

Those who had plenty sell themselves for a crust,

and the hungry grow strong again.

The barren woman bears seven children,

and the mother of many sons is left to languish?

–1 Samuel 2:3-5, The Revised English Bible (1989)

That is a timeless lesson. We read of Jesus telling certain professional religious people that penitent tax collectors and the prostitutes will precede them in the Kingdom of God. Later in 1 Peter, we read of the imperative to clothe ourselves in humility, when dealing with each other and God. As Proverbs 3:34-35 tells us,

Toward the scorners he [God] is scornful,

but to the humble he shows favor.

The wise will inherit honor,

but stubborn fools, disgrace.

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Persecution might come, but one must remain faithful. That is a recurring message in the Bible, from Jeremiah to the Books of the Maccabees to the Gospels to 1 Peter to Hebrews to the Revelation of John. It can also be a difficult lesson on which to act, as many chapters in the history of Christianity attest. Fortunately, God is merciful than generations of Donatists (regardless of their formal designations) have been. That lack of mercy flows from, among other sources, pride–the pride which says,

I persevered. Why did you not do likewise? I must be spiritually superior to you.

We all need to acknowledge, confess, and repent of our sins. We all need to change our minds and turn around spiritually. We all need to be humble before God and each other.

Certain passages of scripture are unduly optimistic. The lection from Proverbs 13 makes no allowance for the hard-working poor, for example. It also offers this statement:

Righteousness protects him whose way is blameless;

Wickedness subverts the sinner.

–Verse 6, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)

The second part has the ring of accuracy but the examples of Jesus and of Christian martyrs contradict any interpretation of the first part that holds that righteousness is like a shield from harm. The reading from Romans paints to the crucifixion of Jesus, an event that occurred because of the lack of righteousness of other people.

The lection from Romans builds to one point:

How can we who died to sin go on living in it?

–6:2b, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

We remain sinners, of course, for that is who we are. We can, however, strive to do the right thing from moment to moment, day to day, and year to year. That is imperative if we are to follow God. Fortunately, grace is available to us in copious amounts, for our ability to accomplish this goal is woefully inadequate. A healthy sense of humility before God is part of this effort. As Proverbs 13:10 tells us,

Arrogance yields nothing but strife;

Wisdom belongs to those who seek advice.

—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)

Humility is the knowledge of who what one is. It leads to a balanced ego, which avoids the extremes of an inferiority complex on one hand and arrogance on the other. Humility before God translates into a sense of awe and wonder, that which, in traditional English translation, is “fear of God.” (I wish that more translators of the Bible would replace “fear of God” with language that expresses its meaning accurately.)

The totality of God is a vast mystery we mere mortals can never understand completely. We can grasp certain aspects of divinity, but the whole reality remains gloriously mysterious. May we accept that fact, embrace the mystery, and recognize it as the thing of beauty it is. And may we be humble before it and resist the lure of easy and inadequate answers.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 27, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANNE LINE AND ROGER FILCOCK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

Arrogance can be easy to muster and humility can be difficult to manifest. I know this well, for

I have been prone to intellectual arrogance, and

humility can be painful.

To be fair, some people I have known have nurtured my intellectual arrogance via their lack of intellectual curiosity and their embrace of anti-intellectualism. That reality, however, does nothing to negate the spiritual problem. I am glad to report, however, that it is a subsiding problem, by grace.

The internal chronology of the Book of Daniel defies historical accuracy; I came to understand that fact years ago via close study of the text. The Book of Daniel is folkloric and theological, not historical and theological. The folktale for these three days concerns King Nebuchadrezzar II (a.k.a. Nebuchadnezzar II), King of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned from 605 to 562 B.C.E. The arrogant monarch, the story tells us, fell into insanity. Then he humbled himself before God, who restored the king’s reason.

So now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of Heaven, all of whose works are just and whose ways are right, and who is able to humble those who behave arrogantly.

–Daniel 4:34, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)

This is folklore, not history, but the lesson regarding the folly of arrogance is true.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-12) exists in the context of conflict between Jesus and Temple authorities during the days immediately prior to his death. In Chapter 11 our Lord and Savior cleansed the Temple and, in a symbolic act, cursed a fig tree as a sign of his rejection of the Temple system. In Chapters 11 and 12 Temple authorities attempted to entrap Jesus in his words. He evaded the traps and ensnared his opponents instead. In this context Jesus told the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. The vineyard was Israel, the slain slaves/servants were prophets, and the beloved son was Jesus. The tenants were the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They sought that which belonged to God, for Christ was the heir to the vineyard.

1 Timothy 6:11-21 continues a thread from earlier in the chapter. Greed is bad, we read:

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

–6:9-10, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Faithful people of God, however, are to live differently, pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness (verse 11). The wealthy are to avoid haughtiness and reliance on uncertain riches, and to trust entirely in God (verse 17). Further instructions for them include being generous and engaging in good works (verse 18).

Complete dependence upon God is a Biblical lesson from both Testaments. It is a pillar of the Law of Moses, for example, and one finds it in 1 Timothy 6, among many other parts of the New Testament. Colossians 2:6-15 drives the point home further, reminding us that Christ has cancelled the debt of sin.

Forgiveness as the cancellation of debt reminds me of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35). A king forgave a large debt–10,000 talents–a servant owed to him. Given that one talent was fifteen years’ worth of wages for a laborer, and that the debt was therefore 150,000 years’ worth of wages, the amount of the debt was hyperbolic. The point of the hyperbole in the parable was that the debt was impossible to repay. The king was merciful, however. Unfortunately, the servant refused to forgive debts other people owed to him, so the king revoked the debt forgiveness and sent the servant to prison.

So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

–Matthew 18:35, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Just as God forgives us, we have a responsibility to forgive others. Doing so might require us to lay aside illusions of self-importance. That has proven true in my life.

The path of walking humbly with God and acknowledging one’s total dependence upon God leads to liberation from illusions of grandeur, independence, and self-importance. It leads one to say, in the words of Psalm 16:1 (Book of Common Worship, 1993):

The Persians had liberated the Jews from the Chaldeans. So now the Jews lived within the bounds of the Persian Empire. The prayer attributed to Daniel reflects a major theological strand in the Hebrew Bible: rampant long-term sin had led to the division of the united monarchy and the demise of both successor kingdoms. Thus, in Daniel 9, Jerusalem was in ruins.

The two main readings for today insist upon the necessity of humility before God specifically, and, more broadly speaking, of having proper priorities. Humility is having a realistic self-image–one neither too high nor too low. It entails knowing that one is, in the context of God, lesser yet not pond scum. We humans bear the Image of God, who made us slightly lower than the angels. Yet we are like the transient grass.

The greatest possessions are intangible. We might have more of them than we know. So there is no need for us to covet, commit violence, and to engage in fraud and/or conflicts to acquire that which is of lesser value. Our “stuff,” for lack of a better word, cannot fill the God-shaped hole, but it can bring about a plethora of woes if we approach it (our “stuff”) with improper priorities.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 5, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ROBERT FRANCIS KENNEDY, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL AND SENATOR

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Kings 9:1-9; 10:1-13

Psalm 54 (Morning)

Psalms 28 and 99 (Evening)

2 Corinthians 5:1-21

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The story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba reaches its peak in 1 Kings 9-10. God talks to him, the monarch is fabulously wealthy, and the Queen of Sheba visits. 1 Kings 9:1-9 provides foreboding foreshadowing: Disobedience to God will lad to national disaster. One needs to be careful here, lest one blame natural disasters frustrated by foolish human decisions (often regarding infrastructure or where to live) on homosexuality, not on the climate and what we humans are doing to change it. But 1 Kings 9:1-9 addressed political forces, not natural ones. Those verses date from a time after which people had experienced national collapse and exile, so they constitute hindsight also. They come from a place of loss and introspection, of being humble before God and of grieving over losses.

Yet, as Paul reminds us, our life is in God. Our only proper boasts are in God–in Jesus, specifically. (That part about Jesus did not apply in the BCE years, of course.) And our confidence is properly in God, in whom we have reconciliation not only to God but to each other. So there is always hope in God, who seeks us by a variety of means over time.

Our decisions matter. Although nobody is the captain of his or her soul, our decisions matter greatly. How we respond to God is important. Here I take my cues from Hebrew Prophets: Will we commit idolatry? Will we condone and/or practice economic exploitation? Will we condone and/or condone corruption? Will we become so enamored of ourselves and our institutions that we will fall into hubris? Or will we recognize the Image of God in each other and serve God by serving each other? Society is concrete, not abstract; it is merely people. Societies can and do change. So the choice is ours.

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Name two countries, A and B, with a recent history of warfare against each other and a current climate of mutual hostility. Then imagine a general from B in search of a cure visiting a prominent religious figure from A.

The politics of the situation would be sensitive, would they not? That is a partial summary of the Naaman and Elijah story.

The main intertwining threads I choose to follow today are:

humility (in 2 Kings 5, Galatians 6, and Luke 10),

judgment and mercy (in all four readings), and

enemies (in 2 Kings 5, Isaiah 66, and Luke 10).

Humility is having a realistic estimate of oneself; it recognizes both strengths and weaknesses. This theme fits the Naaman story well, for he had to overcome his notions of self-importance and national pride, the latter of which informed the former, before God healed him. In humility and a Christ-based identity we Christians are supposed to carry each other’s burdens and help each other through temptation and error; that is what Galatians 6 says. And humility is part of curriculum for the disciples in Luke 10.

Judgment is for God. The theme of judgment overlaps with that of enemies. And who is an enemy of God? I suspect that many, if not most, enemies of God think of themselves as disciples and friends of God. Militant Islamists in western Africa are destroying allegedly un-Islamic buildings–architectural treasures–in the name of Allah. Neither pluralism nor religious toleration are among the values of these individuals. These militants think of themselves as faithful to God and of people such as me as not faithful to God. I think that I am correct, obviously.

(Aside: I have taught practicing Muslims and found them to be delightful human beings. None have been militants. Anyone who thinks that I condemn all Muslims when I criticize militant Islamists fails to grasp my meaning.)

Although judgment resides with God, so does mercy. So Naaman became a follower. Divine mercy extended even to enemies of Elisha’s people. That is easy to say about the politics of antiquity, but what about today? So I propose another thought experiment:

Name a hostile foreign government. Can you, O reader, warm up to the idea that God loves agents of that regime? Would you, in Christ, accept such agents as brothers and sisters in faith?

Mercy can prove difficult. Often we prefer judgment for others–our enemies–and mercy for ourselves because this arrangement reinforces our egos. Yet humility before God requires us, among other things, to move past those categories and our concepts of where we stand in relation to God. That person whom we think of as an enemy might be a friend of God. And we might not be as right with God as we imagine.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 21, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALBERT JOHN LUTHULI, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA